An attempt in progress to compile the most universal movies of all time, the creamiest of the crop, the most rewarding and eternal.
Sharing your assent or dissent, as well as any pertinent info, will be greatly appreciated and cited. The goal is not to make you admire this list. It's to get more people making this kind of list for themselves.

It relies so heavily on Troisi's performance that you feel like his performance is the star, like it's the glue, the backbone, like it's the landing after a gymnastic flying leap. The whole story about the worldly poet and the poor village-dweller is fascinating and well-written.

The struggle inherent in this movie is to consider whether Troisi's character would have been better off not meeting Neruda or whether Neruda gave his life meaning and made him a hero. The title translates from the Italian to "The mail-carrier."

Ed Wood

Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi

Making a good movie about a man who made bad movies is a complicated affair. It involves understanding the very nature of good and bad in cinema. It involves respecting personal vision, integrity, and perseverance, and it also involves plenty of humor. Somehow, Tim Burton's team was able to find the pitch perfect balance between humor and respect, inspiration, and pity. There is very little mockery, if any. Instead, the movie takes an admiring, amused tone, and that's what makes it good. So does Depp's sincerity, and the breath-taking, classic-Hollywood-styled lighting and cinematography.

There's something punk-rock about the movie, the way it laughs in the face of big budget, big money, and instead honors friendship and practicality. This movie makes us wonder what cinema would look like if it was more about having a good time and creating something true rather than seeking a perfect form with no substance.

Una pura formalità

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Written by Giuseppe Tornatore and Pascal Quignard
Produced by Mario Cecchi Gori and Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Music written and conducted by Ennio Morricone
Cinematography by Blasco Giurato
Editing by Giuseppe Tornatore
Production design by Andrea Crisanti
Set decor by Vincenzo De Camillis and Mauro Passi
Costume design by Beatrice Bordone
Hair-styling by Vitaliana Patacca
Makeup by Maurizio Trani
Starring Gérard Depardieu and Roman Polanski

Spooky as heck, a beautifully woven exploration into the human psyche. The editing is flawless, the writing a dream. The acting sublime. It's an amazing feat of art when something makes you think about the definition of life. It's also a rare treat when a movie so intelligent and psycological is able to come across as suspenseful to the point where the audience bites their finger-nails!

Quirky story of a hit-man and the little girl who develops a crush on him. Chock full of emotion, feelings of injustice, the fight against power, and the fight to remain open to love in a harsh world. There is plenty of violence in the movie, but it is orchestrated in a way that makes it seem like dance. Bullets flying, explosions, people running and using their wits to outsmart the other, this movie is invigorating, and somewhat empowering. It shows life as a a chess-game, or as sport, no room for doubt or equivocation. And by doing so, it presents movement as art, and after all, that is cinema.

The three lead performances, the writing, and the cinematography come together nicely to form a classic like a spaghetti western, and yet it all feels very fresh because of the contemporary setting.

Quiz Show

Directed by Robert Redford

Written by Paul Attanasio

Produced by Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin,
Michael Nozik, and Robert Redford

Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus

Editing by Stu Linder

Music by Mark Isham

Production design by Jon Hutman

Art direction by Tim Galvin

Set decor by Samara Schaffer

Costume design by Kathy O'Rear

Makeup by Sharon Ilson
Hair styles by Bunny Parker

Starring John Turturro, Rob Morrow,

Ralph Fiennes, and Paul Scofield

A study of honesty, justice, and institutional corruption. Well-acted, produced, acted, and edited. You get the feel of the times. You get the various motives of the parties involved, their characters fleshed out. The dishonest characters reveal a deeper dishonesty, and the honest characters reveal the hope of the world. Truly a masterpiece.